Weekly Idol Recap #1 – Pre and Post Senbatsu Sousenkyo

There’s always news coming out in the world of Japanese Idol’s, however most of the times there’s very little info related to the news available. I thought I’d gather all the news that comes out within a week and collect it all into a nice and concise article for your reading pleasure.

CROW’S BLOOD will be a 6-episode mini-series with Executive Producer Darren Lynn Bousmanat the helm who’s most well known for being the director of the American horror film SAW II. The drama will star Watanabe Mayu& Miyawaki Sakura and will be available on hulu Japan on July 23rd, 2016.

Keyakizaka46 will be participating in the Tokyo Idol Festival 2016

The sister group of AKB48‘s official rivals Nogizaka46, Keyakizaka46 will be participating in Japan’s biggest Idol event Tokyo Idol Festival2016. The group will be performing on the 2nd and 3rd days of the event which will be August 6th & 7th, 2016.

The Tokyo Idol Festival is an event where Idol Groups from all over the country will be performing live with this year being the event’s 7th year in a row. The event’s complete line-up is available on event’s official website.

DEATH CASH releases new teaser

TBSposted on June 15th, 2016 a new trailer for their upcoming horror drama DEATH CASH. The trailer doesn’t showcase much in terms of the story except the lead Matsui Jurina.

The synopsis for DEATH CASH states:

A number of strange deaths are connected to an urban legend, that there exists a cursed 10,000 yen bill, and whoever spends that 10,000 yen bill would die. Matsui Jurina plays an university student who can foresee the death of other people, and she will team-up with police detective (played by Totsugi Shigeyuki) to solve the mysterious “DEATH CASH” case.

During her speechOkada Nana revealed the cause for her hiatus. Okada Nana has been diagnosed with reactive hypoglycemia which caused her to have an eating disorder resulting in her eating too much and vomiting a lot. She apologized to her fans for making them wait and not telling the truth however she also thanked them for supporting her even while she was on her hiatus.

Shinozaki Ayana to temporarily cease all stage LIVE performances

The official AKB48 Blog revealed on June 16th, 2016 that AKB48 Team K member Shinozaki Ayana will temporarily cease to participate in all stage LIVE performances due to being diagnosed with Graves’ disease.

She did however participate in the Senbatsu Sousenkyo as well as the concert prior to the event even though she unfortunately didn’t rank.

Keyakizaka46’s 2nd single previewed

Keyakizaka46 previewed their 2nd single Sekai ni wa Ai shika nai on their radio show Keyakizaka46 Kochira Yurakucho Hoshizora Housoukyoku.

The song will be act as the theme song for the upcoming TV drama Tokuyama Daigoro wo Dare ga Koroshitanoka?, which translates to Who killed Tokuyama Daigoro?. The drama will start airing in July. Additionally, Keyakizaka46‘s TV show Keyakitte, Kakenai? will have a significant announcement ragarding this upcoming 2nd single, the episode will air on June 26th, 2016.

NGT48 will have their CD debut!

During the AKB48 pre-Senbatsu Sousenkyo Concert on June 18th, 2016it was revealed that the newest Japan based sister group NGT48 will finally make their CD debut with SONY Music being their official label.

New trailer for 5th AKB48 documentary

The new trailer for the 5th AKB48 Documentary was revealed during the pre-Senbatsu Sousenkyo concert on June 18th, 2016 as well as it being posted to the official AKB48 YouTube channel on the same day.

The trailer shows various footage for the upcoming documentary as well as a release date. Sonzai suru Riyuu DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 will be released on July 8th, 2016.

AKB48 invites fans to participate in 45th single MV

During the pre-Senbatsu Sousenkyo concert a video was played which announces the Tsugere Nippon(告れ日本) Project. The purpose of this project is to invite fans to participate 45th single music video however there is a serious requirement for participation which is “You want to confess your love to someone”, and 45th single senbatsu members will be the supporters for these confessions.

The AKB48 45th Single will be released on August 31st, 2016.

Kojima Haruna announces her Graduation

Perhaps the biggest news this week is that first generation member Kojima Haruna after revealing that she indeed was Nyan Nyan Kamen at this year’s Senbatsu Sousenkyo in which she placed 16th, announced her graduation from the AKB48 group. A lot of fans & fellow members were surprised and there were even rumors floating around that she was going to announce it but I was personally expecting it.

Kojima joined the group back in 2005 when it initially formed and has made a massive name for herself in the past 10 years, however with her currently being 28 years old while she’s part of a group who’s entire appeal is young girls, it was something that was bound to happen at some point soon. Either way, I wish Kojima all luck in the world with whatever she’s planning to do in the future once she’s graduated.

Watanabe Miyuki Graduation Concert date revealed

Watanabe joined the group as a first generation member back in 2010 when it initially formed and was vital member of the group along side the group’s Center Yamamoto Sayaka. I wish Watanabe all the luck in the world with her whatever kind of works she pursues, we’ll miss ya Milky.

A lot of news this past week, which was kind of expected considering the Senbatsu Sousenkyo was this week but even excluding the that there still was a lot. Hopefully you guys like this idea for Idol News coverage (even though I am pretty much stealing my co-writer Dazza‘s idea [NOTE FROM EDITOR: Not that I mind!]) because this was honestly the only way I could figure out how to cover all the news that comes out in an article that isn’t under 50 words long because some news has so little information sometimes.